The transition from Huawei to Xiaomi is not only about changing the interface, but also about transferring important data. Contacts are often the main headache: how to copy them quickly, without losing or manually entering hundreds of numbers? This article will help you understand everything from standard methods to little-known life hacks.
Many users mistakenly believe that a computer or a special program is necessary to transfer contacts, and in fact, 90% of tasks are solved by built-in smartphone tools. When you have only phones, when you have access to Wi-Fi, and even if your Huawei suddenly stopped turning on, it's important to understand that the choice of method depends on the device model, the version of the device. EMUI (on Huawei and MIUI (Xiaomi, and whether you have previously used a Google or Huawei account ID.
Some methods take literally 2 minutes, others take longer, but ensure that all data is safe — including photos of contacts, birthdays and additional fields. NFC: This technology is not designed to transfer this data between Android devices. To avoid wasting time, select the option that suits you from the list below and follow the instructions.
1. Transfer contacts through a Google account (the most reliable way)
If you have a Google account set up on your Huawei, this method will be the simplest and most versatile, it works even if the phone is broken or not turned on - the main thing is that sync was turned on earlier.
How to check if your contacts are synced with Google:
- On Huawei go to Settings → Accounts. → Google → Synchronization of the account.
- Make sure that the slider opposite the Contact is active.
- Open contacts.google.com on any device, and all your contacts should be displayed there.
If sync is enabled, you just need to add the same account to Xiaomi:
- 📱 Open the Settings. → Accounts and synchronization → Add an account → Google.
- 🔑 Enter the username and password from the same account that was on Huawei.
- ☁️ Enable contact synchronization in account settings.
- ⏳ Wait 5-10 minutes – Contacts will appear in the phone book of Xiaomi.
⚠️ Note: If Huawei only saved contacts in the phone memory (not Google account), this method will not work. → Settings → Imports/Exports → Contact management.
2.Export/import via file VCF (internetless)
Format VCF (or vCard) is a universal standard for storing contacts, and the advantage of this is that you can transfer a file in any way you want, whether it's Bluetooth, messenger or even a USB drive.
Instructions for Huawei:
- 📄 Open the Contacts app.
- ⚙️ Click on three dots in the upper right corner → Contact management → Exports of contacts.
- 📱 Select the Internal Storage (or SD-map, if there is one).
- 💾 The file with the.vcf extension will be saved in the Contacts or Download folder.
Instructions for Xiaomi:
- 📲 Transfer the.vcf file to Xiaomi (for example, via Xiaomi File Manager or Bluetooth).
- 📂 Open the file – the system will offer to import contacts.
- ✅ Confirm import and select an account to save (Google or Mi Account recommended).
| Transmission method VCF | Speed. | Reliability | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | Slowly (1-2 minutes) | Tall. | If there is no Wi-Fi or cable |
| Email/Message | Quick (30 seconds) | Average (risk of loss in transmission) | For a small number of contacts |
| OTG cable + flash drive | Instantly. | Maximum | If there's an adapter OTG |
| Cloud storage (Google Drive, Mi Cloud) | Quick (depends on the internet) | Tall. | For backups |
⚠️ Note: If you import contacts to Xiaomi, delete duplicates through Contacts → Settings → Combine and fix some Huawei models (e.g, P40 Pro without Google services can be saved VCF In an encoding that is not readable on Xiaomi, open the file on your PC via Outlook or Thunderbird and save it again.
3. Transfer through SIM-map (for older models)
This method is suitable if you have an old Huawei (until 2018 release) or Xiaomi with support. SIM-Please note that SIM-The card stores a limited number of numbers (usually up to 250) and does not save photos or additional fields.
Step-by-step:
- 📶 On Huawei: Contacts → Settings → Imports/Exports → Exports to SIM-map.
- 🔄 Select contacts for export (or click Select All).
- 📱 Move it. SIM-map.
- 📲 On Xiaomi: Contacts → Settings → Imports/Exports → Import with SIM-map.
Limitations of the method:
Numbers are saved without names (numbers only).
- No notes, birthdays, addresses.
- On the new Xiaomi (for example, Redmi Note 12) option to import from the SIM may be absent.
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If Xiaomi does not have an import option SIM, install a third-party app SIM Contacts from Google Play. It lets you read data from Google Play. SIM even in new models.
4.Using Huawei Share or Xiaomi Quick Share (over Wi-Fi)
Huawei and Xiaomi’s current flagships support proprietary wireless data technologies. Huawei Share (formerly Huawei Beam) and Xiaomi Quick Share (formerly Mi Share) allow you to transfer contacts without the Internet, but with some nuances.
Conditions of work:
- Both phones should support Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth 4.0.+.
- Huawei should have Huawei Share enabled (Settings) → Connections → Huawei Share).
- On Xiaomi - Quick Share (Settings) → Connection and sharing → Quick Share).
How to transfer contacts:
- On Huawei, open Contacts, select the right ones (or click Select All).
- Press Share. → Huawei Share.
- On Xiaomi, confirm receipt of the file (usually.vcf).
- Import contacts from the received file.
Challenges and solutions:
If the phones don’t see each other, reboot Bluetooth on both devices.
- On Xiaomi MIUI 14+ You may need to enable Visibility for everyone in Quick Share settings.
- Some Huawei models (such as the Mate 50 Pro) block the transfer of contacts through Huawei Share for security reasons. VCF.
Turn on Bluetooth on both phones |
Activate Huawei Share/Quick Share|
Make sure that the phones have enough charge (minimum 30%)|
Turn off the power saving mode |
Place phones at a distance of no more than 1 meter-->
5. Computer Transfer (for complicated cases)
If a Huawei phone doesn't turn on, but you can access its file system through a PC, you can extract contacts manually, a technique that requires a little bit of technical skill, but saves you in critical situations.
What you need:
USB TypeC Cable (or adapter for older models)
- Huawei HiSuite (official utility) or Android File Transfer for Mac.
- Access to the phone's internal memory.
Step-by-step:
- 🖥️ Connect Huawei to your computer and allow access to files (the phone may need to select File Transfer Mode).
- 🔍 Go to the Internal Storage folder → Contacts or Download – there must be a contact.vcf file (if you have previously exported it).
- 📁 If you don’t have a file, use Huawei HiSuite to back up your contacts: HiSuite → Backup → Contacts → Exports
- 📤 Copy the file to your computer, then transfer it to Xiaomi in any convenient way.
Alternative way (for root users):
If you have root access on Huawei, you can extract contacts directly from the database:
adb pull /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/contacts2.dbThen convert. contacts2.db into VCF utilities DB Browser for SQLite or Online Services.
⚠️ Note: Retrieval of the database of contacts without root-access is impossible on modern versions EMUI (Starting with 10.0) due to security restrictions, do not use questionable programs to "hack" - this can lead to the loss of all data.
What if Huawei is not defined by a computer?
6.Move over the Huawei cloud (if not Google)
If your Huawei did not have a Google account, but it was Huawei ID, The contacts could sync with the Huawei Cloud, and then they could be exported from there.
How to check and download contacts:
- 🌐 Go to cloud.huawei.com and log in.
- 📊 In the Contacts section, select Export - the system will generate a.vcf file.
- 📥 Download the file and import it to Xiaomi (as described in the section about the file). VCF).
Limitations:
Huawei’s cloud only stores contacts for 30 days after deleting the device from your account.
- If the phone was dropped to factory settings without decoupling from Huawei ID, Access to the cloud may be blocked.
The alternative for China:
On some Huawei models for the Chinese market (e.g. Mate 40) RS Porsche Design is used by Huawei Mobile Services instead of Google:
- Install the Huawei Mobile Cloud app from APKMirror on Xiaomi.
- Log in to your Huawei ID.
- Synchronize contacts manually.
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If you have used Huawei ID, But don't remember the password, restore it through the official website before you reset your phone, and after a hard reset, you can't restore access to the cloud!
Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Even when following instructions, users face problems, and here are the most common ones and ways to solve them:
1. Contacts are not imported to Xiaomi
Reason: The.vcf file is corrupted or stored in incompatible encoding.
- Solution: Open the file on your PC via Excel (it will open as a table) and save it back in format CSV, then convert to VCF via NeoBackup.
2.Duplicate contacts
The reason: Xiaomi already had contacts, and new ones were added on top of them.
- Solution: Before importing, back up old contacts, then delete them via Contacts → Settings → Contact management → Delete everything.
3. Not all contacts have been moved
- Reason: On Huawei, contacts were shared among multiple accounts (e.g. Google, Huawei) ID, phone-in).
Solution: Check all possible storage sources (see Section 1) and export contacts from each individually.
4. Xiaomi doesn't see the file VCF
- Reason: The file is saved in an unsupported format (e.g,.vcf.zip).
Solution: Rename the file by removing the.zip extension or unpack the archive.
5. Google Sync Error
Reason: Xiaomi has enabled traffic savings for Google Play Services.
- Solution: Go to Settings → Annexes → Application management → Google Play Services → Mobile data and disable the restriction.